Build quality is exactly what you'd expect from the manufacturer behind many of the leading brand stoves, with every piece well machined and solid feeling - even the wire flame adjuster. The flame head is fairly wide for its size making the Spider usable on family size pans without concentrating the heat around the centre and in test the simmer proved to be one of the best we've seen. Build quality and robustness are helped by seperating the ignition system from the stove in the form of a handheld igniter, eliminating not only the fiddliest part of operating a stove but also the cause of most failures.

Being a remote canister stove the Spider really comes into its own when the temperature drops, allowing the canister to be insulated or, when necessary inverted. Using standard, Coleman style, canisters with a Propane/Butane mix the stove performs at well below zero, helped by an efficient pre-heat tube but Kovea also make optional converters for use with Camping Gaz canisters and butane aerosol style canisters which work out much cheaper.

The combination of the low centre of gravity, excellent stability and highly adjustable simmer makes the Spider a serious contender for best 4 season stove.

Price: £50 (approx)

Weight: 170g

Colour: silver

Features:

• Very Stable
• Seperate igniter
• Foldable pan support legs
• Anti Flare/ Pre-heat tube

Pros:

• Very stable
• Easily variable flame
• Pre-heater
• Wide flame
• Weight
• Build quality

Cons:

None

Note: This article was restored from the archives. It's published creation date is inaccurate.